Heinrich Schütz - 6 Doppelchorigen motetten
Heinrich Schütz (8 October 8 October] 1585 – 6 November 1672) was a German composer and organist, generally regarded as the most important German composer before Johann Sebastian Bach, as well as one of the most important composers of the 17th century. He is credited with bringing the Italian style to Germany and continuing its evolution from the Renaissance into the Early Baroque. Most of his music we have today was written for the Lutheran church, primarily for the Electoral Chapel in Dresden. He wrote what is traditionally considered to be the first German opera, Dafne, performed at Torgau in 1627, the music of which has since been lost, along with nearly all of his ceremonial and theatrical scores.
He is commemorated as a musician in the Calendar of Saints of some North American Lutheran churches on 28 July with Johann Sebastian Bach and George Frideric Handel.
1. Herr, unser, Herrscher 4:33
2. Ach Herr, staf mich nicht in deinem Zorn 5:34
3. Unser Herr Jesus Christus 8:42
4. Cantate Domino 3:17
5. Ich freu mich des 5:47
6. Deutsches Magnificat 7:48
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Anton Bruckner - Mass No. 3 (Grosse Messe)
The Mass No. 3 in F minor, WAB 28, by Anton Bruckner is a setting of the mass ordinary for vocal soloists, chorus and orchestra, and organ ad libitum.
After the 1867 success of his Mass No. 1 in D minor, Bruckner was commissioned "to write a new Mass for the Burgkapelle." Bruckner wrote the first version between Septembers 1867–1868 in Linz (just before his move to Vienna).
The first rehearsals, conducted by Johann Herbeck at the court church, the Augustinerkirche, took place in 1868 or 1869, but "were badly attended by orchestral players" and were "generally unsuccessful." Ultimately, Herbeck found the mass "too long and unsingable." After various delays, the mass was finally premiered on June 16, 1872, at the Augustinerkirche, with Bruckner himself conducting. Herbeck changed his opinion of the piece, claiming to know only two masses: this one and Beethoven's Missa solemnis. Franz Liszt and even Eduard Hanslick praised the piece. A second performance occurred in the Hofmusikkapelle on 8 December 1873. The manuscript is archived at the Österreichische Nationalbibliothek.
After the third performance (30 July 1876), Bruckner made slight revisions on the Kyrie and the Gloria, and in 1877 on the Credo. He made a further revision on the Credo in 1881, in preparation for performances at the Hofkapelle, mainly to address "difficulties of execution",but also to take into account what he had learned from studying Mozart's Requiem, correcting some instances of parallel octaves if not justified by Mozart's example. In some later performances, Bruckner was in the organ loft rather than on the podium.
In a letter to Siegfried Ochs of 14 April 1895, the composer wrote:
Der Bruckner wird alt und möchte doch so gern noch die F-Moll '[Messe]' hören! Bitte, bitte! Das wäre der Höhepunkt meines Lebens. Aber dann manches anders als die Partitur! Bei Des-Dur im Credo: 'Deum vero de Deo' bitte 'Organo pleno'! Nicht Register sparen!
Translation: Bruckner is growing old and would very much like to live to hear the F minor [Mass]! Please, please! That would be the climax of my life. But then much is to be different from the score! In the D♭ major of the Credo: Deum verum de Deo, please, Organo Pleno! Spare not on the registers!.
In the 1890s Bruckner was still revising the work, but there were very few changes made to the vocal parts after 1868. At a November 1893 performance of this mass, Johannes Brahms "applauded ... so enthusiastically ... that Bruckner personally thanked him."
The composer dedicated the piece to Hofrat Anton Ritter von Imhof-Geißlinghof at "the last minute." Leopold Nowak, however, believed that the piece was actually dedicated to conductor Johann Herbeck.
1. Kyrie
2. Gloria
3. Credo
4. Sanctus
5. Benedictus
6. Agnus Dei
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Antonio Vivaldi - Introduzione al Dixit
An introduzione is a motet for solo voice intended to be sung before certain choral settings of liturgical texts. Eight introduzioni by Antonio Vivaldi survive, each in three or four movements. The texts of introduzioni are non-liturgical, but sometimes paraphrases of liturgical texts. In the Ryom Verzeichnis, Vivaldi's introduzioni are numbered from RV 635–642.
Vivaldi's introduzioni are written for a solo singer, either alto or soprano, accompanied by instruments. The musical structure seems to derive from the text: four of the eight (RV 635, 636, 637, and 642) consist of two arias in da capo form surrounding a central recitative. One (RV 638) has a central aria flanked by two recitatives; another (RV 640) has just two movements – recitative then aria – and a third (RV 641) has four movements (two recitatives, aria, recitative). The remaining one (RV 639) has the structure 'aria-recitative-aria' but Vivaldi interwove the second aria into the first movement of the liturgical work which followed it - the Gloria (RV 588).
1. Allegro: Canta in prato 4:34
2. Recitativo: Sacra fulgescit nobis 0:49
3. Allegro: Avenae restrictae sinceri 0:52
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The Gloria by Francis Poulenc, FP 177, scored for soprano solo, large orchestra, and chorus, is a setting of the Gloria text from the mass ordinary. One of Poulenc's most celebrated works, it was commissioned by the Koussevitsky Foundation in honor of Sergei Koussevitzky and his wife Natalia, the namesakes of the foundation.
Gloria was premiered on 21 January 1961 in Boston, Massachusetts by the Boston Symphony Orchestra and the Chorus Pro Musica under conductor Charles Münch with Adele Addison as soloist. The first recording (also in 1961), for EMI, was conducted by Georges Prêtre, under the supervision of the composer, with Rosanna Carteri as the soloist. Among later recordings of the music, the RCA Victor recording by the Robert Shaw Chorale in 1965 won a Grammy Award for the "Best Choral Performance."
Francis Poulenc
Gloria
1. I Gloria 2:57
2. II Laudamus te 3:07
3. III Domine Deus 4:35
4. IV Domine Fili Unigenite 1:20
5. V Domine Deus, Agnus Dei 6:27
6. VI Qui sades ad dexteram Patris 6:37
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Ludwig van Beethoven - Sonata N°7 for violin and piano
Ludwig van Beethoven's Piano Sonata No. 7 in D major, Op. 10, No. 3, was dedicated to the Countess Anne Margarete von Browne, and written in 1798. This makes it contemporary with his three Op. 9 string trios, his three Op. 12 violin sonatas, and the violin and orchestra romance that became his Op. 50 when later published. The year also saw the premiere of a revised version of his second piano concerto, whose original form had been written and heard in 1795.
1. Allegro con brio
2. Adagio cantabile
3. Scherzo, Allegro
4. Finale, Allegro
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Gabriel Fauré - Messe Basse
The Messe des pêcheurs de Villerville (Mass of the fishermen of Villerville) is a missa brevis written by Gabriel Fauré in collaboration with his former pupil André Messager. A later version, published as Messe basse contained only movements composed by Fauré.
In 1907, Heugel & Cie. published a version of the mass, removing Messager's sections and the Gloria (apart from a part of its music that was reused for the added Benedictus), and incorporating a new Kyrie by Fauré; this version, produced by Fauré in 1906, appeared under the title Messe basse.
1. Kyrie 1:59
2. Sanctus 2:10
3. Benedictus 2:22
4. Agnus Dei 2:46
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Ludwig van Beethoven - Sonata N. 4 for violin and piano Op. 23
Ludwig van Beethoven's Piano Sonata No. 4, in E♭ major, Op. 7, sometimes nicknamed the Grand Sonata, is dedicated to his student Babette, the Countess Keglevics. This piano sonata was composed in Bratislava, in 1796, in November, during his visit of Keglevich Palace in Bratislava. Beethoven named it Great Sonata, because it was published alone, which was unusual for the time.
Along with the Hammerklavier Sonata, it is one of the longest piano sonatas of Beethoven. A typical performance lasts about 28 minutes.
1. Presto 5:25
2. Andante scherzozo, più allegretto 6:39
3. Allegro molto 4:13
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Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy - Concerto for violin and orchestra Op. 64
Felix Mendelssohn's Violin Concerto in E minor, Op. 64, is his last large orchestral work. It holds an important place in the violin repertoire and is one of the most popular and most frequently performed violin concertos in history. A typical performance lasts just under half an hour.
Mendelssohn originally proposed the idea of the violin concerto to Ferdinand David, a close friend and then concertmaster of the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra. Although conceived in 1838, the work took another six years to complete and was not premiered until 1845. During this time, Mendelssohn maintained a regular correspondence with David, who gave him many suggestions. The work itself was one of the foremost violin concertos of the Romantic era and was influential on many other composers.
Although the concerto consists of three movements in a standard fast–slow–fast structure and each movement follows a traditional form, the concerto was innovative and included many novel features for its time. Distinctive aspects include the almost immediate entrance of the violin at the beginning of the work (rather than following an orchestral preview of the first movement's major themes, as was typical in Classical-era concertos) and the through-composed form of the concerto as a whole, in which the three movements are melodically and harmonically connected and played attacca (each movement immediately following the previous one without any pauses).(citation needed)
The concerto was well received and soon became regarded as one of the greatest violin concertos of all time. The concerto remains popular to this day and has developed a reputation as an essential concerto for all aspiring concert violinists to master, and usually one of the first Romantic era concertos they learn. Many professional violinists have recorded the concerto and the work is regularly performed in concerts and classical music competitions.
Mendelssohn also wrote a virtuoso Concerto for Violin and String Orchestra in D minor between 1821 and 1823, when he was 12 to 14 years old, at the same time that he produced his twelve string symphonies. This work was "rediscovered" and first recorded in 1951 by Yehudi Menuhin.
1. Allegro molto appassionato 13:29
2. Andante 8:06
3. Allegro molto vivace 7:06
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Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart - Symphony No. 39
The Symphony No. 39 in E♭ major of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, K. 543, was completed on 26 June 1788.
The Symphony No. 39 is the first of a set of three (his last symphonies) that Mozart composed in rapid succession during the summer of 1788. No. 40 was completed on 25 July and No. 41 on 10 August. Nikolaus Harnoncourt argues that Mozart composed the three symphonies as a unified work, pointing, among other things, to the fact that the Symphony No. 39 has a grand introduction (in the manner of an overture) but no coda.
Around the time that he composed the three symphonies, Mozart was writing his piano trios in E major and C major (K. 542 and K. 548), his sonata facile (K. 545), and a violin sonatina (K. 547). Mozart biographer Alfred Einstein has suggested that Mozart took Michael Haydn's Symphony No. 26, in the same key, as a model.
1. Adagio - Allegro
2. Andante con moto
3. Menuetto: Allegro
4. Finale: Allegro
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Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart - Exultate, Jubilate - K 165
This religious solo motet was composed when Mozart was staying in Milan during the production of his opera Lucio Silla which was being performed there in the Teatro Regio Ducal. It was written for the castrato Venanzio Rauzzini, who had sung the part of the primo uomo Cecilio in Lucio Silla the previous year. While waiting for the end of the run (from 26 December 1772 to 25 January 1773), Mozart composed the motet for his singer, whose technical excellence he admired. Its first performance took place at the Theatine Church on 17 January 1773, while Rauzzini was still singing in Mozart's opera at night. Mozart made some revisions around 1780. On 30 May 1779, a Trinity Sunday, a revised version was performed by Francesco Ceccarelli at the Holy Trinity Church, Salzburg. Another revised version was intended for Christmas. The manuscripts of the two Salzburg versions were discovered in 1978 in St. Jakob, Wasserburg am Inn. In modern times, the motet is usually sung by a female soprano.
1. Exultate, Jubilate 4:53
2. Fuget amica dies 0:54
3. Tu virginum corona 8:23
4. Alleluja 2:39
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